Pages

Followers

Click on photos to enlarge.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Shabby Postcard - Challenge Day at A Gem of a Challenge

Hello!It's time for this week's challenge over at A Gem of a Challenge, and the theme this week (Challenge #76) is "Distress It."
This challenge will run from 8:00 AM April 20 to 6:00 PM April 26, and the
prize for the winner will be 2 individual digi images (NOT SETS) from Pink Gem Designs.
So do head on over and see what the rest of the lovely Design Team have
created, then join us, won't you? We'd love to see you!

My card today uses two digis from PGD, Butterfly Postcard and Keep Calm and Eat Cake. I have quite decided I like combining digis, and these two go together like, well, cake and frosting. Speaking of which, my cards lately seem to have had lots of "card frosting." Guess it's a clear indicator of how I like my cake. A little cake (or card) and LOTS of frosting (embellies).

I've noticed a lot of challenges lately focusing on Earth Day, which is April 22, and their requirements are to recycle something, which inspired me to use a couple of recycled items on this card.

One is the paper toweling I used for the roses.

After spraying some ribbon with some of my homemade shimmer sprays (pink and brown), I used a paper towel to wipe up the interior of my spray box, and I liked the look on the towel, so I sprayed it a little more and die cut it with SB Rose Creations dies to make roses! You can see where the original wiping section was, but that just gave more depth to the resulting flowers.

The
other recycled item was the gold leaf I used on the buttons. There are
always "crumbs" left over when I use gold leaf, and I do hate to throw
them away, so this time I used them on some buttons.

The remaining flowers were airbrushed with Copics, and the leaves were enhanced down the centers with Copics as well.

Perfect Pearls form the centers of the flowers.

And I couldn't resist a teeny, tiny gold leafed button to use as the "postmark."

Close up of the messy bow with another gold leafed button and some linen thread. You can see the distressed edge of the base layer on which I also stamped some French script for depth, then sponged around the edges with distress inks.And that, dear readers, is my distressed card for today's challenge. Please do join us at A Gem of a Challenge this week - we'd love to see you!Happy crafting!

Wow this is awesome! I LOVE the roses! I had no idea they were a paper towel! And your interpretation of my sketch is wonderful! Love how it's rotated and on an angle. You have made our Top 3 this week!

Your paper towel flowers are just gorgeous, Shea...thanks so much for the wonderful tutorial! Love the shabby, vintage look of your card and the tip for reusing those little pieces of gold leaf! Blessings!

Paper towel flowers? Fabulous! I always learn something new here. Beautiful card as always. You got it in just under the wire it seems over at 613 Create and managed to get a top three placement out of it. Well done my dear friend. You deserve all the accolades you get.

What a brilliant idea to use the colored paper towel to make your flowers - love the way they came out. Your card is just lovely and I'm delighted to see a shabby entry into our Frilly and Funkie challenge. Thanks for sharing!

WOW! a girl after my own heart! I love it! I too, hate to throw away things that could still be used! and I LOVE the tid bits of gold leafing on buttons. It gives them such an old elegant look. Great idea, and executed beautifully. But I have to admit, my heart skipped a beat with those paper towel flowers. Such a clever idea, and they look so beautiful!I have embraced the use of digital and paper myself, and I agree. I like some things digital, and most things not. But I love how you combined them both. Great card, and congrats on the win! Beautiful work.